The Central Statistics Office (CSO) will publish a new statistical release entitled Recorded Crime Detection 2018 on 3 December 2019 at 11 a.m. The following FAQ is intended to answer some key questions users may have ahead of the release.

Q. What statistics will be in the publication?

The statistics will provide a snapshot of the extent to which crimes reported to An Garda Síochána in 2018 have been detected. For a crime to be marked as detected at least one offender must be identified and sanctioned.

Q. When were detection statistics last published by the CSO?

Statistics relating to detections were last published by the CSO in 2016 for reference year 2014, as part of the Garda Recorded Crime Statistics annual report. The report advised users about the quality of the source data received from An Garda Síochána which was used to compile the statistics. Shortly after this, in June 2017, CSO suspended all Recorded Crime statistics following the identification of additional concerns in respect of the quality of PULSE data.

Q. What is the rationale for resuming publication of detection statistics now?

The decision to resume publication of crime detection statistics now is based on ongoing demand for these statistics from users and, importantly, in response to new data governance controls introduced by An Garda Síochána specifically targeted at improving data quality in the recording of detections.

Q. What is the impact of the data quality improvements on detection statistics?

The mechanism for recording a detection on PULSE has changed. A detection is now recorded as an automated response to the recording of either a sanction against an offender (e.g. charge, summons or caution) or, in a very limited set of circumstances, a verified exception whereby an offender is not directly sanctioned (e.g. the offender is deceased). This constitutes a break-in-series for measuring crime detection rates in Ireland. Detection rates will not be comparable with figures published from before this change.

Q. Are these statistics ‘Under Reservation’?

CSO continues to publish all Recorded Crime statistics using the category 'Statistics Under Reservation'. An Garda Síochána have undertaken to introduce an effective data quality management system for the production of crime statistics, and this work is underway. The category of Statistics Under Reservation applies to all statistical outputs sourced from PULSE data in the interim.
Read more here: https://www.cso.ie/en/methods/crime/statisticsunderreservationfaqs/

Q. What crimes are being reported on in this publication?

Detection rates for 2018 reflect those crimes which were reported to An Garda Síochána during 2018 and have since been detected. Detection rates for crimes reported in previous years will not be published by CSO because the break-in-series means that detection rates for 2018 are not comparable with previous years.
Recorded crime levels and detection rates by crime type, by Garda region will be presented. Additionally, recorded crime levels and detection rates will be presented by head of population, as well as a new classification outlining crime levels in Dublin and ‘Outside Dublin’.

Please contact crime@cso.ie for further details.